Rising energy prices are putting considerable pressure on household budgets throughout Europe. Despite Government intervention in most countries to help ease the financial stress, there are many practical ways to reduce your energy usage and save money. Here we provide some obvious (and less obvious) ways to cut your energy usage and save money this winter.
1. Turn down the heating
As temperatures drop, turning your heating up to maximum is tempting. However, the World Health Organisation recommends 18C as the ideal temperature for healthy adults and 20C for the young, old, or unwell. So, check how warm you are heating your home and turn it down if it is too high. By turning your heating down by just 1C, you could cut the energy you use for heating by 7%.
2. Use radiators properly
Radiators work by warming air which then circulates a room. However, if you put furniture in front of a radiator or things on it, you stop them from doing their job correctly and have to run them for longer and use more energy. So, move furniture away from radiators and avoid warming or drying laundry on them. Also, if you have radiators in a room you seldom use, such as a guest bedroom, turn the radiator off and close the door as you otherwise heat unused space.
3. Reduce boiler temperatures
The default setting on a boiler is often too high. This means it will use more energy than is necessary to heat your home and water. So, find the manual and check the boiler’s settings. If you have a condensing boiler, turning it down could reduce the energy it uses by up to 8%.
4. Use less hot water
Around 50% of the energy used in our homes is to heat the rooms and water. As a result, if you use less hot water, you will use less energy. You can cut your energy bill considerably by taking showers instead of baths and reducing your time in the shower each day.
5. Switch off ‘standby.’
An increasing number of things in our homes use energy, even when they aren’t in use. This includes smart speakers, TVs, microwave ovens, computer devices, printers and screens. Whilst the amount of electricity they use in ‘standby’ mode is much less than when they are being used, the fact that we frequently leave them on for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can have several of them in our homes, means that their ‘standby’ energy usage can add up. If you have devices you only use during the day, consider switching them off at the power socket overnight, and if you are not going to be using them for a while, switch them off; this includes when you go on holiday or out for the day. Even if all of the devices you leave on standby only cost you €0.01 of electricity an hour, that still adds up to almost €90.00 a year to power things you aren’t using!
6. Turn off the lights
During winter, the days can be gloomy, and as the sun sets earlier, we turn on the lights in our homes for longer. However, by automatically turning lights off when you don’t need them (do all the lights in your living room need to be on when you are sitting on the sofa watching TV?) or when you leave a room, you avoid wasting electricity and save money in the process. Also, if you don’t already have energy-efficient lightbulbs throughout your home, start installing them. They can reduce the energy you use considerably and can last up to 10 times longer than traditional lightbulbs.
7. Cook smart
When cooking, make sure you use a pan the right size for the ring/hob you are using so that you don’t waste energy or have to heat something for longer than needed. Using lids on pans can also cut the time and energy required to boil something by 50%! Microwave ovens use about 60-80% less energy than conventional ovens. They are also much quicker and more energy efficient than a pan on a ring/hob to heat food, so consider using your microwave more. Remember to turn it off at the plug socket after use, as it’ll still use energy when plugged in, even if it is turned off.
8. Reduce laundry energy use
When doing laundry, it is more energy efficient to do one full load of washing than two half loads. Using lower-temperature washing cycles also cuts the power you use when doing laundry. An increasing number of laundry detergents are designed to work effectively at lower temperatures, so your clothes will be just as clean but cost you less energy. Dryers are also one of the most energy-hungry equipment in your home, so avoid using them if you can. Instead, use a drying rack or dry washing on a clothesline outside if the weather is good. If you need to use a dryer, make sure you dry the right amount of clothes for your machine as, if it is too full, it will take longer to dry the clothes, and too few clothes will mean the cost of drying each item is significantly more. Longer, cooler drying cycles will also often use less energy, although it will depend on your machine.
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